NCSR Demokritos, a PHAROS AI Factory consortium member, organises The Lyceum Project 2026, a multidisciplinary initiative where philosophy meets AI. The event takes place on Friday, June 19 and Saturday, June 20, 2026, at the Athens Conservatoire.
This year’s gathering invites leading thinkers from academia, practitioners, policy makers, artists, and citizens to reflect on a transformative question for our shared future: how might Artificial Intelligence entangle with Ancestral and Animate Intelligence to co-create a life-affirming civilisation?
The event explores the interconnected and evolving relationship between three forms of intelligence: Animate Intelligence, the intelligence inherent in nature and the living world; Ancestral Intelligence, the millennia wisdom of philosophy, the humanities, spirituality, and the arts; and Artificial Intelligence, the advances of science and technology shaping our present and future.
Friday’s opening evening welcome will be delivered by President of NCSR Demokritos Dr. Vangelis Karkaletsis, His Eminence Metropolitan Theodoritos of Laodicea, Director of the Office of Representation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Athens, Minister of Digital Governance Dimitris Papastergiou, and World Human Forum Co-founder and President Alexandra Mitsotaki. Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic Kyriakos Mitsotakis will deliver closing remarks on Saturday evening.
Part A: On Animate Intelligence Speakers
Speakers:
Prof. Ruth Defries (Columbia University), Prof. Armand Marie Leroi (Imperial College London), Prof. Yadvinder Malhi (University of Oxford), Dr. Vangelis Karkaletsis (President, NCSR Demokritos), Mr. Niki Mardas (Global Canopy), Mr. Adam Elman (Google’s Director of Sustainability, EMEA), Prof. Paco Calvo (University of Murcia), Professor Morten L. Kringelbach (Aarhus University), Dr. Emmanuel Stratakis (Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, FORTH), and Mr. Ailton Krenak.
Dr. Karkaletsis also joins Adam Elman later in the programme for a conversation on “AI for Nature: From Innovation to Action.”
Part B: On Ancestral Intelligence Speakers
Speakers:
Prof. Angie Hobbs FRSA (University of Sheffield), Prof. Evangelos Protopapadakis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Prof. Spyridon Rangos (University of Patras), Assoc. Prof. Stasinos Stavrianeas (Hellenic Open University), Prof. Anca Dan (École Normale Supérieure), Prof. Niki Evelpidou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Fr. John Chryssavgis (Ecumenical Patriarchate), Dr. Stefanos Gandolfo (Athens Columbia Global Center), Ms. Wakanyi Macharia-Hoffman (Utrecht University), Dr. Sergio Imparato (Harvard University), and Prof. Laymert Garcia dos Santos.
Young Scholars’ session hosted by Dr. Giannis Perperidis (Harvard University).
Part C: On Artificial Intelligence
Speakers:
Prof. Edward Harcourt MBE (University of Oxford), Dr. Ali-Reza Bhojani (University of Birmingham), Dr. Katie Evans (IEEE SA), Prof. Benjamin Rosman (University of the Witwatersrand), Ms. Wakanyi Macharia-Hoffman (Utrecht University), Dr. Nicolas Prevelakis (Harvard University), and Mr. Jeremy Lent (Ecocivilization Coalition).
Attendance is free. Registration is required due to limited seating, so secure your spot in advance. Register here: www.eventora.com/en/Events/the-lyceum-project-2026
More information: thelyceumproject.ai/event/entangled-intelligence
About The Lyceum Project 2026:
The Lyceum Project 2026 is organised by NCSR Demokritos and the World Human Forum, in cooperation with the Special Secretariat of Foresight, Presidency of the Government of the Hellenic Republic; in affiliation with the Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece, Harvard University; hosted by the Athens Conservatoire; with the primary support of IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA).
Under the auspices of the Ministry of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence, the Region of Attica, and the National Commission for Bioethics and Technoethics.
In synergy with the National Museum of Natural History Goulandris. Founding academic partner: Institute of Ethics in AI, University of Oxford. Academic partners: Athens Columbia Global Center, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and NKUA’s Applied Philosophy Research Lab, University of Patras and its School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, École Normale Supérieure, and Inclusive AI Lab.
Supporters: Global Canopy, Hellenic Artificial Intelligence Society (EETN), British Council, and the Byzantine and Christian Museum. Sponsors: Google, Microsoft, COSMOTE TELEKOM, Endeavor, Ubitech, and Public Power Corporation S.A. Official Airline Partner: Aegean. Media Sponsors: ERT, ERT Cosmos 93.6, Trito Programma, ERT News 105.8, ERT World, Kathimerini, and Orthos Logos.
